Agenda item

The Leader of the Council and the Executive Director (Corporate Services) will be in attendance for this item. An update report on the Greater Cambridge City Deal is attached.

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee NOTED the report and SUPPORTED the principles of the Greater Cambridge City Deal.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Ray Manning presented the Greater Cambridge City Deal report. The Executive Director (Corporate Services) Alex Colyer and Graham Hughes from Cambridge City Council, were also in attendance for this item. The Leader of the Council updated Members following a round table discussion regarding the City Deal with the Deputy Prime Minister, which had taken place earlier in the day.

Governance was discussed:

·         Members were informed that South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council would form a ‘combined authority’ to enable unified decision making regarding the City Deal.

·         The Executive Director informed Members that a change in legislation by Government was required to create this ‘combined authority’, for the County Council’s powers to be devolved for the geographical areas covered by South Cambridgeshire District Council and the City Council. This would take approximately one year.

·         Until the combined authority was established, a joint committee would be formed to take forward the work on the City Deal and agree on projects in which the funding would be invested.

·         Concern was raised over the political balance of the Executive Board, formed of three members of each authority alongside representatives from the LEP and University. Being a partnership, it was assumed that decisions would be reached by consensus. A Memorandum of Understanding would support the Executive Board’s work.

·         The 12 person ‘Assembly’ formed of three members of each authority, would have a scrutiny type function, holding the Executive Board to account as well as offering advice, and would represent the political balance of each authority.

·         The aim was for the ‘Assembly’ to be formed by April 2015 and the combined authority to be operational by April 2016.

Further discussion ensued:

·         Concern was raised over housing completion targets potentially being triggers for further funding, as housing supply was outside the Council’s control. Members were assured that these targets would not hinder delivery of the funding and that all elements of the first funding ‘trigger’ were considered to be measureable and achievable.

·         Members were informed that there may be the potential for the City Deal period to be extended by a five years.

·         It was highlighted to Members that the City Deal funding was new money and that other grants for infrastructure would still be available for the Council to bid for.

·         Members were informed that the Government believed that their £500 million City Deal investment would bring a further £500 million of investment in the area, from other sources.

·         Members were informed that there were no targets in terms of carbon footprint and that key radial routes (A10 north and south, A428 and A1307 amongst other key routes) would receive significant improvements in terms of public transport, enabling easier access to Cambridge. The focus was likely to first be on public transport, with the aim to ensure access to Cambridge from the surrounding areas was effective and joined up. It was believed that this would attract both employers and workers to Cambridge.

·         Concern was raised that a certain element of the workforce was being driven out of Cambridge due to high property prices. Members were informed that between the County Council and Cambridge University, who were both major land owners, it may be possible to find some exception sites for affordable housing.

·         The transparency of the decision making process was queried. Members were informed that Full Council agreement would be needed from all councils before anything could be decided. Members were informed that there was still much work to be done in forming the governance structures and that the Leaders representing each of the three councils would need to be mandated. The expectation was that meetings would be held in public.

·         The Scrutiny and Overview Committee Chairman proposed a joint scrutiny working party was formed, consisting of members of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Partnerships Review Committee and Corporate Governance Committee, to monitor the Greater Cambridge City Deal and report back to Members. The Scrutiny and Overview Committee AGREED that this should be investigated further and brought back to the next meeting for further discussion.

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee NOTED the report and SUPPORTED the principles of the Greater Cambridge City Deal.